Give us this day our daily bread

 

ARTICLE BY FATHER JONATHAN E MOORE - LINK HERE 

25th Sunday of the Year 2926    Give us this day our daily bread

Today’s parable clearly comes from a time before there were Trades Unions! It is in some ways a tricky little tale, for it is so easy to become distracted by its “ins and outs”, and altogether miss the teaching behind the story. Last weekend, we had the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, and I went into some detail regarding the sums of money involved. I'm sure you all remember that a denarius was the standard wage given to a casual labourer for a day’s work.  

It can be helpful to see that daily denarius as in some ways similar to today’s “Minimum Wage”, enough for the basics, but no more besides. These days, many low paid workers are also being subjected to “Zero Hours Contracts”, where they come to work when wanted, and are only paid for the actual hours worked. This was basically the situation for a labourer at the time of Jesus too. They had a precarious existence, with no State Welfare to fall back on. 

Think about the characters in the story. First, the landowner: just like the master in last week’s parable, he is a man who is unbelievably, almost insanely generous. Everybody who worked that day receives a whole denarius, whether they have been employed twelve hours or one. The employer’s behaviour might be judged as showing little business sense in human terms, and a poor exercise in labour relations. He is, however, an image of the Father given by Jesus, and God can never be judged by human standards. 

Second, the workers. Some of them had sweated in the Middle Eastern heat all day. They had been glad of the security of a day’s work at six in the morning, but twelve hours later were indignant because the late-comers were paid the same amount. What of those late-comers though, had it been easier for them? As their hours of unemployment grew longer, the prospect of work and any kind of payment at all diminished. They stood there, not in leisured ease, but in silent desperation, the fewer hours they worked, the less there would be to feed the family. Those who were still there at the eleventh hour (five pm.) had effectively seen all hope of payment vanish, and the prospect of starving children loomed large. They grasped at the straw of even one hour’s work, there would be at least enough for a small loaf of bread to share. Their employer promised no more than what was just.

At the end of the day, the master paid the last-comers first. They were astounded and delighted to receive a whole denarius, a full day’s pay, far more than they had earned. They went away thanking God and blessing the generous employer. The problem came when all the other workers received the same. In varying degrees, depending how long they had actually worked, they felt cheated and underpaid. Those who had put in the whole twelve hours were most aggrieved, feeling their denarius was hard-earned. Was their grievance justified though? After all, they had been eager enough to contract for their denarius earlier that day, and had done their day’s work secure in the knowledge of a day’s pay, a good meal, a happy wife and contented children.

The master paid every one of his workers what they actually needed, some received far more than they expected, others less than they felt they deserved. Each of them received enough to meet their family’s need that day.

Last week’s parable led us to consider the fifth petition of the Our Father - “Forgive us our trespasses…”. Today, we find ourselves directed towards the fourth petition - “Give us this day our daily bread”. When we  make this prayer, we are not commanding God to give us everything we want. No, we are in fact commanding ourselves to trust the Father to give us what we actually need. The beautiful hymn “Great is thy faithfulness” affirms

 “All I have needed, Thy grace hath provided”.

In this acquisitive and appetite-driven age of ours, it is so important to learn that what we want and what we need are two very different things. My first Parish Priest, the austere yet charming Monsignor Wilson, was fond of telling his curates:

 “If you don't get what you like, then you must like what you get!” 

- truly, deep wisdom and great contentment are to be found in that attitude to life. In his Letter to Timothy (1 Tim 1:6) Saint Paul tells us:

”Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have.” 

In praying for “Daily Bread”, we acknowledge our complete reliance upon the Father, and we ask that greed, love of money, envy and acquisitiveness will not lead us to disrupt the peace and contentment in which He desires His family to live.

Perhaps this week we might all try to think especially of that petition with every Our Father we say.